New allegations levelled against B.C. promoter

New allegations have beendirected at a B.C. promotions company,which was previously accused of owingthousands of dollars to children'sentertainers Sharon and Bram.

Earlier this month, CBC news reported that Travis Pangburn and his company, Pangburn Philosophy, owe performers Sharon and Bram an estimated $15,000 from a recent tour.

Pangburn'sonce high-profilepromotions company collapsed in November. On Nov.13,Pangburnposted on Twitter, "effective immediately, thePangburnPhilosophy Corporation will be folding."

In September, Sharon and Bram embarked on their final tour of the country, playing seven successful gigs across Ontario before moving on to B.C. in October. Pangburn promoted and organized the B.C. shows.

"Audiences never failed us. The promoter, that's another story," said Sharon Hampson.

Now, Pangburn, who is based in Kaslo, B.C., is being accused of leaving a trail of bills in the Castlegar area following the Kootenay Country Music Festival in July.

The festival, promoted by Pangburn,ran over three days and featured performers such as Emerson Drive and Brett Kissell.

Businessman Harold Chernoff says he's owed about $20,000for supplying everything from tents to portable toilets, through his company Trowelex.

"We gave them a good deal, basically half price to try and get the festival off the ground," says Chernoff.

"It's just a shame, we put a lot of effort into it."

Chernoff saidhis calls to Pangburn and his company have not been returned. He saidmany people around town are owed money from the summer festival and can't reachPangburn.

Former mayor Lawrence Chernoff says city staff did a lot of work to help bring the country music festival to town.

"We really wanted to bring a festival to the community and put Castlegar on the map," said Chernoff.

"It's the small business people in the communitythat support the community. Then they get stung."

Not everyone who contributed to the festival wasleft holding the bag. Some were paid in full.

Pangburn did not return CBC's phone requests for an interview.

Anote on theKootenay Country Music's Festival's Facebook post states: "Due to some recent drastic changes to our parent company, we will not be in operation to produce a festival for 2019. In the meantime, we will be working on plans to come back for 2020 to bring more great music to the Kootenays."

Pangburn was also involved in organizing a series of high-profile debates between intellectuals and philosophers in several cities around the world. But he cancelled an event in New Zealand last summer and then another in New York in mid-November.

In the meantime, some Castlegar bills weren't being paid.